Severe Eye Scratching

Question
I had 4 mice, 2 have unfortunately died, Phantom of the Opera died of an horrifically large tumor and my albino mouse Marie Antoinette died recently after becoming very thin and small. I am worried about my beautiful Red Satin mouse Willow, who has been scratching her left eye for several weeks now, but it has only looked a little dry and squinted. It seemed to be getting better when I woke up today I was very upset to see almost half of her face raw and bleeding around her left eye. I tried to clean the blood from around her eye but am at a loss as to what I can do to stop this problem? I'm not sure if this is of any significance but she is also a very plump little mouse who loves to eat almost constantly, whilst ignoring the wheel etc. I am very worried she will either eat herself to death or scratch her eye out! I should also mention that she must be just under 10 months or so old. She lives with my other remaining mouse Tinkerbell who is normal weight and fit as a fiddle and the same age as Willow. Please help!

Answer
Dear Jessica,

I'm sorry about Phantom of the Opera.  Mice do tend to get tumors, and they don't operate well.  This was less often the case when I was growing up, but as was explained to me by a geneticist, mice weren't made to withstand the kind of chemical overload we have-- even indoors-- in the air today.  They are like the canaries in the coal mine.  Marie Antoinette also died in a pattern that I am sadly acquainted with, and  as far as I know this sort of thing is generally simply genetic.  There's no cure.

Willow, on the other hand, could definitely benefit from a trip to the vet.  If she can't go, and I know well that mice are often low budget pets, the main thing you can do is to treat her for mites.  Mites are the most common, though by no means the only, cause of itching and subsequent scabbing, bleeding, or hair loss.  A vet can diagnose and treat these things better than you or I can, so that's the first choice.  

I explained to another mouse owner how to treat for mites here:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2009/2/itchy-mouse-skin-wounds.htm

Be very careful not to get any of the spray onto the wounds.  You might want to take the extra precaution of spraying the spray into a dish and using your hands to put it on the furry parts of the mouse.  Make sure her fur is soaked.

Treat the other mouse in exactly the same way.

Best of luck and good health to Willow and her companion.

squeaks,

Natasha